Description Degree Offered Admission Doctor of Philosophy in Public Affairs Contact Info

Description

The doctorate in the Public Affairs program at the University of Central Florida provides a unique focus on public policy, planning, and administration. This interdisciplinary program draws from the strengths of faculty in four disciplines (Criminal Justice, Health, Public Administration, and Social Work). The doctoral program is designed to prepare mid-career professionals for leadership and/or research positions in public, nonprofit, and private agencies and more traditional students for academic positions in colleges and universities. The integration of this dynamic mix of students creates a stimulating environment in which to examine contemporary organizational, community, regional, and national problems and issues.

The doctorate program in Public Affairs’ mission is to prepare future leaders to deal with complex social, health and governance issues that cut across traditional disciplinary boundaries. The competency-based curriculum develops a new breed of leader with integrity, credibility and expertise in professional and academic settings. UCF’s interdisciplinary doctorate in Public Affairs strives to fulfill that need and to meet the challenges of the future.

More specifically, the program brings together disciplines that address important and interrelated social and health problems confronting all communities. Too often, in the past, the interrelated problems of crime and justice, health services and social welfare delivery, and the administration of public and private organizations that deal with these problems have been approached in a discipline-specific and fragmented way. By integrating knowledge-based and intervention approaches, more realistic resolutions to social and health problems can be identified and implemented.

The program will match career goals of students through the interdisciplinary nature of course content, the interaction with faculty from all four disciplines, and the flexibility inherent in the choice of electives. Those seeking advancement within public agencies or nonprofit organizations can choose a mix of electives, including course work from other UCF programs, while those seeking to teach at the college or university level can concentrate their course work more within a single discipline.

To accommodate the needs of both traditional students and working professionals, Public Affairs students may pursue the program on a full-time (9-12 credits per semester) or part-time (6 credits per semester) basis. Significant support is available for selected full-time students. All course work is offered in the evening hours.

Degrees Offered

Doctor of Philosophy in Public Affairs

Admission

For information on general UCF graduate admissions requirements that apply to all prospective students, please visit the Admissions and Registration section of the Graduate Catalog. Applicants must apply online. Please be sure to submit all requested material by the established deadline(s).

Doctor of Philosophy in Public Affairs

Students applying to the Doctorate in Public Affairs program must have completed a master's degree from an accredited institution prior to entering the program. Admission decisions will be made twice per academic year (either fall or spring). A complete packet for admission includes all of the following:

• An official UCF admission application form—completed online
• Official copies of undergraduate and graduate transcripts
• Official results of the Graduate Record Examination or GMAT, taken within the last five years, and sent from ETS directly to UCF (Students whose scores fall within the top 50 percentile on either of these standardized tests will be more favorably reviewed.)
• A narrative statement of 1000 words or less describing the applicant’s educational expectations, career aspirations, level of computer skills, and any special qualifications or experiences that may enhance the overall learning environment of the program
• A current resume
• Three letters of reference from professionals who can assess the applicant’s ability to succeed in a doctoral program
• International students and students whose native language is not English must take the TOEFL and obtain a 220 score on the computer test or a 560 score on the paper examination.

Application Due Dates

All students applying for fellowships must apply by the Fall Priority deadline date.

U.S. Applicants

Program(s)	Fall Priority	Fall	Spring	Summer
Doctor of Philosophy in Public Affairs	Jan 15	Apr 25	Nov 4

International Applicants

Program(s)	Fall Priority	Fall	Spring	Summer
Doctor of Philosophy in Public Affairs	Jan 15	Jan 15	Jul 1

International Transfer Applicants

Program(s)	Fall Priority	Fall	Spring	Summer
Doctor of Philosophy in Public Affairs	Jan 15	Mar 1	Sep 1

Doctor of Philosophy in Public Affairs

Transfer Credit

Course work accepted for transfer must be part of an approved plan of study for a doctoral program at UCF or elsewhere. A maximum of 9 credit hours taken at the doctoral level may be considered for transfer. The acceptance of transfer credit will be determined by the Program Director and Coordinators on a case-by-case basis.

Assignment of Faculty Advisers

Upon acceptance of a student into the program, the Program Director will provide an initial orientation and general advising session. The Director will continue to advise the student throughout the foundation stage of the program assisting the student in the clarification of interests and goals and facilitating the introduction of the student to faculty with research interests that can facilitate the student’s program of study. In addition, the Coordinator from one of the participating departments (i.e., Criminal Justice, Health, Public Administration, or Social Work) will help the student select elective courses, finalize the program of study, and facilitate the discussion and review of dissertation topics. The dissertation chair should be selected by the student prior to the completion of the dissertation prospectus.

Degree Requirements

Students must complete 57 credit hours beyond the master’s degree, including fourteen courses (42 credit hours) above the master’s level distributed in the following manner:

1. a six-course, 18-credit interdisciplinary core
2. a four-course, 12-credit research methods and quantitative analysis
3. a four-course, 12-credit cognate area or specialization component that will be tailored to meet students’ individual goals
4. 15 credit hours of dissertation must also be completed.

To ensure that students more fully experience the interdisciplinary nature of the program, completion of no more than five elective courses from one discipline will be permitted.

A maximum of 6 credit hours of Independent Study or 6 credit hours of Doctoral Research may be used for electives. Twelve credits of the elective portion of the Program of Study must be fulfilled by classroom-based courses (either discipline-specific or PAF electives).

If students receive grades of "C+" or lower in core courses, they may be reverted to non-degree status. Also, all students who receive a grade of “C+” or lower in a required core course must repeat the course and obtain a grade of “B-” or better prior to taking the qualifying examination.

A minimum of a 3.0 GPA in the specified graduate program of study is required to maintain graduate student status and for graduation.

Interdisciplinary Core Courses—18 Credit Hours

• PAF 7000 Foundations of Public Affairs (3 credit hours)
• PAF 7110 Ethics and Social Justice in Public Affairs (3 credit hours)
• PAF 7230 Strategic Change and Management in Public Affairs (3 credit hours)
• PAF 7300 Policy Analysis in Public Affairs (3 credit hours)
• PAF 7982 Dissertation Seminar in Public Affairs (3 credit hours)
• PAF 7315 Public Policy: Microeconomic Applications (3 credit hours)

Research Methods Courses—12 Credit Hours

• PAF 7802 Advanced Research Methods in Public Affairs I (3 credit hours)
• PAF 7806 Advanced Research Methods in Public Affairs II (3 credit hours)
• PAF 7804 Advanced Quantitative Methods I (3 credit hours)
• PAF 7805 Advanced Quantitative Research Methods in Public Affairs II (3 credit hours)

Disciplinary/Cognate or Generalist Electives —12 Credit Hours

Criminal Justice Track

• CCJ 6938 Special Topics in Criminal Justice (3 credit hours) (Course may be repeated with different content.)
• CCJ 7457 Seminar in Criminal Justice Theory (3 credit hours)
• CCJ 7930 Seminar in Criminal Justice Policy Analysis (3 credit hours)

Health Track

• HSA 6126 Principles of Managed Care (3 credit hours)
• HSA 7XXX Advanced Seminar in Health Care Finance (3 credit hours)
• HSA 7XXX Advanced Seminar in Health Care Economics (3 credit hours)
• HSA 7XXX Advanced Seminar in Community Health (3 credit hours)
• PHC 6000 Epidemiology (3 credit hours)
• NGR 7190 Health Care Systems and Policy (3 credit hours)
• NGR 7661 Healthcare for Vulnerable Populations (3 credit hours)
• NGR 7820 Innovative Technologies in Healthcare(3 credit hours)

Public Administration Track

• PAD 6934 Special Issues in Public Administration (3 credit hours) (Course may be repeated with different content.)
• See advisers for appropriate PAD course

Social Work Track

• SOW 6386 Seminar in Social Welfare Planning and Implementation (3 credit hours)
• SOW 6399 Advanced Administration in Social Welfare (3 credit hours)
• SOW 6492 Theory Building in Social Work (3 credit hours)
• SOW 6938 Special Issues in Social Work (3 credit hours) (Course may be repeated with different content.)

Research Electives

• PAF 7919 Doctoral Research
• PAF 7510 Seminar in Program Evaluation in Public Affairs (3 credit hours)
• PAF 7810 Seminar in Survey Research in Public Affairs (3 credit hours)
• PAF 7820 Seminar in Qualitative Methods in Public Affairs (3 credit hours)
• PAF 7840 Seminar in Secondary Data Analysis in Public Affairs (3 credit hours)

General PAF Electives

• PAF 6908 Independent Study
• PAF 7750 Pedagogy in Public Affairs (3 credit hours)
• PAF 7XXX Public Affairs in State and Local Government

NOTE: Other 5000 and 6000 level courses may be accepted as electives per the approval of the Program Director, Adviser, and Coordinator.

Dissertation—15 Credit Hours

• PAF 7980 Dissertation Research

Minimum Hours Required for Ph.D.—57 Credit Hours

Qualifying Examination

Following successful completion of the required theoretical foundation and research methods courses, a student is required to pass a qualifying examination. The examination will be given at the end of fall or spring semesters. Students are given two opportunities to pass all sections of the exam. Students who fail any section twice will be dropped from the program. However, prior to being officially dropped, students will be given the opportunity to appeal.

Candidacy Status

Students officially enter candidacy when:

1. Completion of the course work.
2. Successful completion of the qualifying examination.
3. Successful completion and defense of the dissertation prospectus.

Financial Support

Graduate students may receive financial assistance through fellowships, assistantships, tuition support, or loans. For more information, see Financing Grad School, which describes the types of financial assistance available at UCF and provides general guidance in planning your graduate finances. The Financial Information section of the Graduate Catalog is another key resource.

Key points about financial support:

• If you're interested in financial assistance, you're strongly encouraged to apply for admission early. A complete application for admission, including all supporting documents, must be received by the priority date listed for your program under "Admissions."
• You must be admitted to a graduate program before the university can consider awarding financial assistance to you.
• If you want to be considered for loans and other need-based financial assistance, review the UCF Student Financial Assistance website at http://finaid.ucf.edu and complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) form, which is available online at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov. Apply early and allow up to six weeks for the FAFSA form to be processed.
• UCF Graduate Studies awards university graduate fellowships, with most decisions based on nominations from the colleges and programs. All admitted graduate students are automatically considered in this nomination process. To be eligible for a fellowship, students must be accepted as a graduate student in a degree program and be enrolled full-time. University graduate fellowships are not affected by FAFSA determination of need.
• Please note that select fellowships do require students to fill out a fellowship application (either a university fellowship application, an external fellowship application, or a college or school fellowship application). For university fellowship applications, see Financing Grad School.
• · For information on assistantships (including teaching, research, and general graduate assistantships) or tuition support, contact either the Program Director or the Admissions/Registrar Officer.

Contact Info

Thomas T. H. Wan, Ph.D. , Professor
Phone Number: 407-823-3678
twan@mail.ucf.edu